Grieving Heart

"Every death is a wakeup call to live."

-Oprah Winfrey

"[Grief is] not a road that you just pass these landmarks and then eventually you're fine, I know that it's a road that you're on that some days you feel really strong and then some days you're back to, like, a complete horror. -Nate Berkus

"God understands our prayers, even when we can't find the words to say them."

-Unknown

"Remember this, the ones that love us never truly leave us. And you can always find them here, in your heart."

-Sirius Black (film version)

A human life is a story told by God.  

~Hans Christian Andersen

While we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil.  

~John Taylor

Life is eternal, and love is immortal,

and death is only a horizon;

and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.

~Rossiter Worthington Raymond

Tears are God’s gift to us.  Our holy water.  They heal us as they flow. 

~Rita Schiano

If tears could build a stairway,

And memories a lane,

I'd walk right up to Heaven

And bring you home again.

~Author Unknown

Anything that has brought a smile to your lips, joy to your heart or a lightness to your step is a Blessing.

Anything that has made your life more comfortable, has lightened your burden or has brought warmth to your home is a Blessing.

Anything that has supported your body, has increased your endurance or has opened your heart is a Blessing.

Anything that has made you look deeper, has expanded your understanding or has increased your compassion is a Blessing.

Anything that has tested your strength, has fortified your commitment or has forced you to grow is a Blessing.

Anything that has reminded you of how precious life is and has taught you to treasure your Relations is a Blessing.

- Jamie Sams

"None of the tears that you have ever cried in your life were wasted or in vain. Everything you wept over honored those moments in life as valuable and important and those feelings of sadness were sacred to your Soul." 

- Dr Jeff Mullan

It takes time to heal.

Build a bridge from now to tomorrow.

Sink the piers deep into the Earth.

Pour in concrete day by day,

a little at a time, and let it set.

It takes time to heal.

It may feel very awkward,

as if you're making empty promises,

as if you're simply spanning empty space.

But someday, somehow, somewhere,

you'll find yourself upon a brand new shore,

glancing back at the bridge which you alone have built.

It takes time to heal.

-Ted Hibbard

The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost. 

~Arthur Schopenhauer

 

There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. ~Author Unknown

‎"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”

~Unknown

The angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God. 

~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

Unable are the loved to die.  For love is immortality.  

~Emily Dickinson

Those who cannot cry because they believe that tears are a sign of weakness, spiritual ineptness, and self-pity, should go sit under the sky. Is the sky not powerful when it cries?Does not the sky know that both tears and sunlight are necessary for growth?

~  Sandra Kring

If tears could talk, this is what they’d say: I am the raindrop that nourishes your healing. Open your door to me in times of angst. I will not stay forever. Only long enough to clear the path of debris so hope and joy can reach you. Only long enough to cleanse your eyes so your vision will be clear enough to recognize goodness when it comes.

~ Sandra Kring

 

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there... I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow...

I am the diamond glints on snow...

I am the sunlight on ripened grain...

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you waken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of gentle birds in circling flight...

I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry—

I am not there... I did not die...

 -Unknown

 

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free!

I follow the plan God laid for me.

I saw His face, I heard His call,

I took His hand and left it all...

I could not stay another day,

To love, to laugh, to work or play;

Tasks left undone must stay that way.

And if my parting has left a void,

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss...

Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.

My life's been full, I've savoured much:

Good times, good friends, a loved-one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief—

Don't shorten yours with undue grief.

Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,

Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.

 -Unknown

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal."
~From a headstone in Ireland

 "Oh my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."

 -Herbert H. Humphrey

Death never has to be the end of a relationship - there is an unseen ribbon that binds two people together that never has to be severed. He will always be your son, dad, brother, uncle, cousin, or grandfather - nothing - not even death - can take that away. ♥

-Unknown

I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death.  They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make.  Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories.  We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.  

- Leo Buscaglia

When your heart is breaking for someone who is broken, but your words can’t reach them, and your love can’t save them, ask their higher angels to go where you cannot, and whisper into the heart of their strong but troubled soul: “We will not give up on you. Don’t you give up on yourself, either.” 

~ by Sandra Kring 

I will come to you in your sleep.

And lie awhile next to your gentle breath.

I lay my head down next to yours and feel the beat of a heart that's broken.

I feel the ache within you and gently breathe life back into your hurt.

I give you my love, I give you my heart and I leave you with hope.

... And when you awake, you know not how

But your life has been touched by the invisible presence of love.

I will come to you in your sleep and rest with you awhile

(from Stepping Through Grief)